Fed: Some could be worse off under performance pay: Bishop

AAP General News (Australia)
04-15-2007
Fed: Some could be worse off under performance pay: Bishop

By David Crawshaw

CANBERRA, April 15 AAP - Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop has acknowledged paying
school teachers based on their performance could leave some worse off than under current
pay scales.

Ms Bishop's frank admission comes just two days after the states rejected her plan
to introduce performance pay for teachers, criticising it as unworkable.

While advocating increased across-the-board pay for teachers, Ms Bishop said performance
pay schemes, which she wants to trial next year, meant teachers would not be able to expect
automatic, incremental pay increases.

At present, junior teachers advance to the next pay scale each year unless there is
a serious problem with their work, as identified by their principal.

"If people aren't being paid just on the basis of years in the job, the increments
would not automatically increase," Ms Bishop told ABC Television.

"Those who are assessed as being more skilled - their performance is better than others
- would have a salary increase. Those who would not be so assessed would be paid less."

But this did not amount to a wage cut, Ms Bishop said.

"I'm not talking about pay cuts. I'm talking about a differential in salaries," she said.

Ms Bishop advocates performance pay as a way of retaining the most talented teachers,
and says many are disillusioned because they reach the top salary level within nine years
of graduating.

She has proposed paying teachers performance bonuses based on a combination of their
students' academic results, principal and parent feedback and other considerations such
as the students' level of disadvantage.

Late today, Ms Bishop's office said she was prepared to consider performance pay as
an opt-in system.

Treasurer Peter Costello appears to have ruled out any new federal funding for performance
pay, and state education ministers flatly rejected it on Friday, potentially putting at
risk billions worth of federal education grants.

Australian Education Union president Pat Byrne said Ms Bishop's comments showed how
performance pay would create two classes of teachers.

"What we're now going to have is a quota of people who are going to get pay rises based
on whatever, and then a quota of people who are not going to get pay rises," she said.

"For her to persist with this line that the proposal is in any way operable is insanity."

Ms Byrne said rewarding teachers based on student exam results would increase teachers'
workload, and the government would need to assess every one of Australia's 250,000 teachers
to determine who should get pay rises.

Opposition education spokesman Stephen Smith said Ms Bishop's scheme would reward some
teachers only by paying others less.

"The government's so-called performance pay approach is as much about some teachers
getting a pay cut as it is about other teachers getting more money," he said.

AAP dcr/jt/cdh

KEYWORD: TEACHERS NIGHTLEAD

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